This is according to Matt Lee-Ashley at the Center for American Progress who says that coal companies like Cloud Peak are skirting royalty rules by selling coal they mine to a subsidiary company and then reselling that coal on the export market at a higher price.

"The coal industry is trying to defend the indefensible: Under no circumstance should coal companies be able to sell coal to their own subsidiaries to dodge royalty payments to taxpayers and Western states," Ashley said.